Thursday, November 05, 2009

Surf "Daag Ache Hai” is remembered (should be remembered rather) in the history of advertising to have broken a cliché. A boring stereotype where countless detergent commercials through years of unabashed creative barrenness showcased unhappy housewives toil tough with stain on clothes. And then would appear the detergent brand bringing happiness along with it by removing all the dirt in a flash! Voila.. so predictive so very formulaic and so very boring…

Surf with its Daag Ache Hain (stain is good) campaign changed it and for the better… I loved the ads from 2005 and have felt and shared wherever I talk and write, the path breaking success that Balki and his team at Lowe have got for themselves and for the age old Brand surf which has really stood all the marketing tests that times have posed on it....…

A brother and sister duo returning home from school dressed in their maroon and white uniforms. The girl is, 4 or 5 while the boy around 7. The girl accidentally falling into a puddle of rain water and gets soiled with stain. Her sob making her brother to take ‘revenge’ on the puddle. The big brother soaring in exact filmi style and starting to punch the BAD GUY…. And finally leaving the scene with a warning ‘’Phir mat karna!’’

I know for sure that anyone who have seen this ad would have loved it for its newness, its simplicity and its clutter breaking ability… then the idea went on….. in a striking campaign the country was told in length and breadth that actually Stains are Good…a good case of 360 degree communication…. Its all fine, were fine rather, till recently when a Surf Excel commercial featuring a teacher and her student and a dead dog, stared at us from the TV scenes, trying to be a worthy successor of its predecessors and trying to tow the same line that one need not stop living life to the fullest fearing dirt and grime on clothes; in short –”Daag Ache Hain“.

I feel that all the trying shows, I mean only the trying shows, trying to drag on the idea, the good idea dragged on to such a disastrous point that anyone who have seen the first ads would feel that this one is a mock ad done by some rival agency… one shudders to think that Lowe (who made the first ads) can ever think of such an Ill conceived ,depraved ad….It shows that a lot of trying is done to stand on par with the first ads but the connect is missing, even the insight is getting ridiculed in the process.. I am sure no teacher ( I am one and a dog lover at that) would want his/her student to come and dance/howl, hop and urinate like a dog to make him or her happy unless he/she is a pervert.. Miss Rossy is sad at her dog’s death but she isn’t sad that her innocent student is at her door doing the Doggy things..

Come one guys !!! Take a walk and get back but next time give us some thing worth the name… and a prayer from my side( to Lowe and HUL)…’’Phir mat karna!’’ ........Puhleesss.. !!!!!!!!

Tail piece: - "Children are unpredictable. You never know what inconsistency they're going to catch you in next". ~Franklin P. Jones

1 comment:

Anonymous
said...

I think your point of view is straight through the eyes of an adman.. but for a common man, this creative has worked.. with a very good media planning from mindshare fulcrum (heavy bursting in between the TV serials mainly), this ad is doing wonders for the brand..last time i visited home, even my 80 year old granny was all praises for this wonderful piece of communication.. targeting the most addict serial viewers, who cries for every single bit and take revenge for every bitching happening on tv, this ten seconder is more than enough to do a "so called BRAND RECALL".. for them what shit is LINTAS, or what crap is Mindshare Fulcrum, and who the bloody hell is mr.balki.. regardsvipin, indian express